Restrictions to Access

No restrictions. Open for research.

Copyright Notice

Copyright is retained by the authors of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Preferred Citation

[Identification of item], in the McClanahan and Taylor Family Papers, #3290, Southern Historical Collection, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Alternate Form of Material

Microfilm copy available.

Acquisitions Information

Purchase 1957

Additional Descriptive Resources

A copy of the original finding aid for this collection is filed in folder 1a.

Sensitive Materials Statement

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information that is protected under federal or state right to privacy laws and regulations, the North Carolina Public Records Act (N.C.G.S. § 132 1 et seq.), and Article 7 of the North Carolina State Personnel Act (Privacy of State Employee Personnel Records, N.C.G.S. § 126-22 et seq.). Researchers are advised that the disclosure of certain information pertaining to identifiable living individuals represented in this collection without the consent of those individuals may have legal ramifications (e.g., a cause of action under common law for invasion of privacy may arise if facts concerning an individual's private life are published that would be deemed highly offensive to a reasonable person) for which the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill assumes no responsibility.

Processed by: SHC Staff

Encoded by: Noah Huffman, December 2007

Updated by: Kate Jordan, April 2011; Dawne Howard Lucas, July 2021

This collection was processed with support from the sponsorship of a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities, Office of Preservation, Washington, D.C., 1990-1993.

The following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.

Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.

• American eagle (Newspaper : Vera Cruz, Mexico)
• American newspapers--Mexico--History--19th century.
• Churubusco (Mexico City, Mexico)--Maps.
• Churubusco (Mexico)--Maps.
• Daily American star (Newspaper : Mexico City, Mexico)
• Families--Tennessee--Social life and customs.
• McClanahan family.
• McClanahan, John Reid, approximately 1819-1865.
• Mexican War, 1846-1848--Maps.
• Mexico--Description and travel.
• Taylor family.
• Taylor, James R., 1809-1871.
• Taylor, Sarah McClanahan, 1816-1903.
• Tennessee--Social life and customs.
• United States. Army--Officers.

The Taylor and McClanahan families lived throughout west Tennessee in the 1800s. James R. Taylor settled in Jackson, Tenn., and married Sarah McClanahan. Sarah had several brothers including John R. McClanahan, a journalist who served as a captain with the United States Army Volunteers in the Mexican War. After the war, McClanahan became part owner of the "Memphis Appeal".

The collection is scattered correspondence of two generations of the families of James R. Taylor (1809-1871) and Sarah McClanahan. This includes chiefly letters from relatives at various places in Tennessee about family matters; eight letters, 1846-1848, from and muster rolls of John R. McClanahan; a printed map, 1848, of the battles of Contreras and Churubusco and the March on Mexico City; and issues of two English-language newspapers published in Mexico during the Mexican War ("The American Eagle," Vera Cruz, 6 April 1847, Volume 1, No. 2; and "Daily American Star," City of Mexico, May 1847, Volume 1, Nos 186, 187, 188, and 192). The letters from McClanahan discuss his daily routine, diet, and travel in some detail.

• Extra oversize paper folder (XOPF-3290/1)